First Edition: Oct. 22, 2021

KHN: Montana Tribes Want To Stop Jailing People For Suicide Attempts But Lack A Safer Alternative 
When Maria Vega was a senior in high school in 2015, she found the body of one of her closest friends, who had died by suicide. A few days later, devastated by the loss, Vega tried to take her own life. After the attempt failed, she was arrested and taken to juvenile detention in Poplar, a remote town on the Missouri River a short drive from the North Dakota oil fields. She was put in a cell and kept under observation for several days until a mental health specialist was available to see her. Her only interaction was with the woman who brought food to her cell. (Reardon, 10/22)

KHN: ‘Down To My Last Diaper’: The Anxiety Of Parenting In Poverty 
For parents living in poverty, “diaper math” is a familiar and distressingly pressing daily calculation. Babies in the U.S. go through six to 10 disposable diapers a day, at an average cost of $70 to $80 a month. Name-brand diapers with high-end absorption sell for as much as a half a dollar each, and can result in upwards of $120 a month in expenses. One in every three American families cannot afford enough diapers to keep their infants and toddlers clean, dry and healthy, according to the National Diaper Bank Network. For many parents, that leads to wrenching choices: diapers, food or rent? (Gold, 10/22)

KHN: ‘No Mercy’ Bonus Episodes: More From Fort Scott, Kansas
Host Sarah Jane Tribble sets out on a mission to learn more about the Sisters of Mercy, the nuns who founded Fort Scott’s Mercy Hospital and were once prominent leaders of the community. Tribble’s first glimpse into their lives takes her to an old convent. To learn more about the founding of Fort Scott’s hospital, listen to Episode Four. (Tribble, 10/22)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Dems Agree To Agree, But Not On What To Agree On
Negotiations over what to include in — and cut from — the domestic spending package on Capitol Hill are reportedly making progress, but so far all Democrats have to show for their efforts to enact President Biden’s health and other social spending agenda is a continuing promise to keep trying. Meanwhile, Biden administration officials unveil plans to provide covid-19 vaccines to younger children without looking like they are prejudging the science, in an attempt to avoid the mixed messaging that presaged the rollout of booster doses for adults. (10/21)

Politico: CDC Gives Green Light To Moderna, J&J Boosters Plus Mix-And-Match Strategy 
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday formally endorsed the use of Covid-19 booster shots from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for some adults, clearing the way for millions of Americans to receive additional doses. “These recommendations are another example of our fundamental commitment to protect as many people as possible from COVID-19," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. "The evidence shows that all three COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States are safe — as demonstrated by the over 400 million vaccine doses already given. And, they are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating Delta variant.” (Gardner, 10 /21)

USA Today: COVID Boosters Get OK From CDC Director, Can Begin As Soon As Friday
Americans are now free to get a free booster dose of all three COVID-19 vaccines, and can even choose to mix and match their vaccines, after the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on new recommendations Thursday night. At the same time, CDC recommended boosters for certain people who got Moderna vaccine and all 15 million Americans who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Clinics, doctors and pharmacies can begin giving boosters as soon as Friday. (Weise, 10/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Booster Shot Was 95.6% Effective In Large Trial, Companies Say 
Researchers found 109 cases of symptomatic Covid-19 among study subjects who received a placebo shot, compared with five cases in people who took the vaccine, resulting in 95.6% efficacy, the companies said. The additional dose was safe and tolerable, and consistent with what was known about the vaccine, the companies said. (Hopkins, 10/21)

USA Today: Study Finds 3rd Pfizer Shot Drastically Improves Protection
Fully vaccinated people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot in a large trial were at a 95.6% lower risk of COVID-19 infection than fully vaccinated people who received a placebo, the companies said Thursday. The news came on the same day a CDC advisory panel voted unanimously to allow booster shots of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines and to permit the extra doses to be of a different brand than the original shots. Put together, Thursday's developments figure to accelerate the nation's booster program, which the Biden administration has promoted. The Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots were authorized for certain populations in the U.S. last month. (Ortiz and Bacon, 10/21)

CBS News: Pfizer Says Its Vaccine Booster Restores Full Protection Against COVID-19
Pfizer and BioNTech said Thursday that a late-stage trial of the drugmakers' COVID-19 vaccine booster showed it restored full protection against the disease. In a test involving 10,000 participants, the additional shot was 95.6% effective against the disease, according to the companies. ... The companies said the trial involved people who were 16 and older, and represents the first efficacy results from any randomized, controlled COVID-19 vaccine booster test. The results demonstrate the benefits of booster shots to fight the disease, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. (Picchi, 10/21)

CNBC: CDC: These Are Most Common Side Effects People Report After Getting Moderna, J&J Boosters
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday published data listing the most common side effects people reported after receiving boosters of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s two-dose Covid vaccine or a second dose of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine. The data, presented to the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is based on submissions to the agency’s text messaging system v-safe and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a national vaccine safety surveillance program. (Lovelace Jr., 10/21)

The Washington Post: More Americans Are Getting Their Boosters Than First Vaccine Doses
The number of Americans getting coronavirus vaccine boosters is outpacing the number of those getting their first vaccine shots, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the week ending Tuesday, a daily average of roughly 340,000 people received booster shots. Meanwhile, an average of 157,605 people each day received their first vaccine shot during the comparable period of time, government data shows. (Jeong and Suliman, 10/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: 'Hybrid Immunity': Why COVID Vaccination May Give Extra-Strong Protection After Infection
Science appears to increasingly show, however, that those who have previously been infected and are subsequently vaccinated exhibit a combined immunity that may be the strongest protection against coronavirus reinfection. Researchers emphasize that these studies, which examine how and why hybrid immunity provides such strong protection, are key. “We don't want people to become infected and vaccinated. But if you can elicit this kind of immunity by not getting infected, that's what we're super interested in investigating," said Nadia Roan, a UCSF immunologist and investigator at Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. (Echeverria and Allday, 10/21)

AP: Biden Bill Would Put US Back On Path Of Reducing Uninsured
The Democrats’ social spending and climate change bill would put the United States back on a path to reducing its persistent pool of uninsured people, with estimates ranging from 4 million to 7 million Americans gaining health coverage. Those getting covered would include about one-third of uninsured Black Americans, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute and the Commonwealth Fund, nonpartisan research groups that support the goal of expanding health insurance. Other estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and the center-right American Action Forum project a similar overall trend. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/21)

The Hill: Biden Says Expanding Medicare To Include Hearing, Dental And Vision A 'Reach'
President Biden said Thursday that expanding Medicare to include hearing, dental and vision benefits would be a “reach” amid ongoing negotiations with Democrats over his sweeping economic agenda. During a CNN town hall, Biden told anchor Anderson Cooper that Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) — two key moderates at the center of ongoing negotiations about how to scale back Democrats’ reconciliation bill — are opposed to the expansion. (Chalfant, 10/21)

The Hill: Biden Says Paid Leave Proposal Reduced From 12 To 4 Weeks 
President Biden said definitively on Thursday that his proposal for paid family and medical leave has been reduced from 12 weeks to four weeks in a compromise reconciliation bill being negotiated by the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “It is down to four weeks,” Biden said at a CNN town hall Thursday evening when asked about the proposed program. “The reason it’s down to four weeks is I can’t get twelve weeks.” (Chalfant, 10/21)

Politico: Democrats Defend Their Child Care Plan Against Unexpected Attack
Democratic lawmakers and their allies are moving quickly to dull a dagger aimed — from the left, of all places — at their much-touted plan to make child care more affordable for American families. The party is in the throes of negotiating what will and won't make it into its multitrillion-dollar social spending package. On the table: A multibillion-dollar program that would funnel money to states to expand their child care industries and provide parents with child care subsidies. The proposal is one of the package's most popular: A September poll found that nearly 8 in 10 voters support it. (Mueller, 10/21)

The New York Times: Democrats' Campaign To Control Drug Prices Nears Collapse 
When a powerful Democratic Senate chairman assembled his Special Committee on Aging to confront what he called a “crisis of affordability” for prescription drugs, he proposed a novel solution: allow the government to negotiate better deals for critical medications. The year was 1989, and the idea from that chairman, former Senator David Pryor of Arkansas, touched off a drive for government drug-price negotiations that has been embraced by two generations of Democrats and one Republican president, Donald J. Trump — but now appears at risk of being left out of a sprawling domestic policy bill taking shape in Congress. (Weisman, 10/21)

Stat: The 4 Democratic Senators With Concerns About Drug Pricing Reform
The fate of the Democratic party’s ambitious goal of allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices rests with a handful of key moderate senators. Negotiations on the exact scope of the reforms heated up this week after months of stalemate. But as lawmakers push to compile an outline of the massive domestic spending package that forms a cornerstone of President Biden’s domestic agenda, solid consensus on drug pricing policies has proved elusive. (Cohrs, 10/22)

Fox News: Biden Says Police Officers, First Responders Should Be Fired For Refusing Jab
President Biden on Thursday said police officers and first responders who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine should stay home and be fired. Speaking during a presidential CNN town hall, moderator Anderson Cooper noted that as many as one in three emergency responders in some major cities are refusing to comply with city vaccine mandates. "I'm wondering where you stand on that," Cooper said. "Should police officers, first responders be mandated to get vaccines? And if not, should they be mandated to stay at home, let go?" "Yes and yes," Biden replied, going on to suggest that he implemented his controversial vaccine mandate only as a last resort. (Brown, 10/21)

Fox News: Chicago Police Union Boss On Vaccine Mandate Fight: 'Welcome To Day Three Of 'The Hunger Games'
The Chicago police union’s first vice president has issued a blistering attack on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate, likening it to "The Hunger Games," and warned younger officers not to give in to pressure. The remarks came in a nearly 10-minute video posted by Fraternal Order of Police First Vice President Michael Mette on his Facebook page. "Welcome to day three of ‘The Hunger Games,’ where we find out who the city is going to offer up as tribute," Mette says in the video, invoking the book and film series about a dystopian world in which children must fight to the death for the entertainment of wealthy residents. (Betz, 10/21)

Oklahoman: OKC Police Department Scraps COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate For Recruits
A vaccine mandate once directed at new Oklahoma City Police Department recruits has been rescinded, city officials announced Wednesday. The hiring prerequisite instituted this summer for both new police hires and fire recruits required applicants either to be already vaccinated or be willing to be vaccinated upon hiring. "The Oklahoma City Police Department has dropped its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all new hires and recruits. So neither the vaccine nor a negative test are required to become a police recruit," read a brief statement released to the media by Oklahoma City Police Dept. spokesman Gary Knight. (Gore, 10/21)

Politico: Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Has Cargo Giants In A Pre-Holiday Panic 
A trade group for air cargo giants like UPS and FedEx is sounding the alarm over an impending Dec. 8 vaccine deadline imposed by President Joe Biden, complaining it threatens to wreak havoc at the busiest time of the year — and add yet another kink to the supply chain. “We have significant concerns with the employer mandates announced on Sept. 9, 2021, and the ability of industry members to implement the required employee vaccinations by Dec. 8, 2021,” Stephen Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association, wrote in a letter sent the Biden administration and obtained by POLITICO. (Korecki, 10/21)

The Wall Street Journal: American, Southwest Say Vaccine Mandate Won’t Disrupt Flights 
Airlines say they don’t anticipate having to immediately fire employees not vaccinated by a federal deadline in December, another challenge for carriers managing travel’s rocky recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Major airlines, which conduct business with the federal government, must require their workers to be vaccinated by Dec. 8 under an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in September pertaining to federal contractors. (Sider, 10/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Apple To Require Unvaccinated Workers To Get Daily COVID Tests
Unvaccinated Apple workers will have to get daily COVID-19 tests in order to enter the office, according to Bloomberg. Under the new rules, the Cupertino-based tech giant will require that vaccinated workers get tested weekly. The daily tests will also apply to employees who refuse to disclose their vaccination status. Bloomberg also reported that retail workers at Apple stores will be tested more regularly than is currently the case: twice a week for unvaccinated store workers and once a week for those who are vaccinated. While the new regulations signal a tightening of COVID-19 rules for Apple, the company’s new regulations will still be more lenient than those at Google, Microsoft and Facebook, all of which require in-person workers to be vaccinated. (Dineen, 10/21)

Politico: DeSantis Calls For Special Florida Legislative Session To Fight Biden's Vaccine Mandate
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday called for a special legislative session to block the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates, taking the most aggressive action yet in his ongoing fight with the White House over Covid restrictions. The GOP governor, who has built a national reputation fighting against coronavirus-related lockdowns and mandates, said during a news conference in Pinellas County that the special session will yield a set of protections that will prevent Biden’s vaccine mandates from being enacted in Florida. (Sarkissian, 10/21)

AP: Michigan Won't Go Further Than Federal Vax-Or-Test Rule
Michigan will not order employers to adhere to a COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirement that is stricter than one planned by the Biden administration. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration released its stance this week following questions from the business community. (Eggert, 10/21)

The Hill: Kentucky Governor Urges Continued Vigilance In COVID-19 Fight: 'Let's Not Punt On Third Down'
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) on Thursday urged his constituents to remain vigilant in the fight against COVID-19, saying “let’s not punt on the third down.” Beshear, during a news conference, said that while hospitalizations, intensive care capacities and ventilator use are all down, Kentuckians must not become complacent in the fight against COVID-19. (Schnell, 10/21)

Stat: An Estimated 115,000 Health Workers Have Died From Covid-19
Some 115,000 health care workers died from Covid-19 from January 2020 to May of this year, according to a new World Health Organization estimate, as the agency pushed once again for efforts to address vaccine inequity. Globally, 2 in 5 health care workers are fully vaccinated, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing Thursday. But, he added, “that average masks huge differences across regions and economic groupings.” (Joseph, 10/21)

AP: Teachers Ask For Virus Protocols After Student, Staff Deaths
Members of Minnesota’s teachers union are calling on school leaders to do more to protect students and staff after the state Department of Health reported the first student death from COVID-19 this school year. Health officials said the student and two staff members died last week. That increased the total number of school fatalities since the start of the pandemic to two students and 13 school employees, including five workers this year. (10/21)

The Washington Post: A Couple Died Of Covid, Leaving Five Children Behind. A Relative Says People Called Their Deaths ‘Fake News.’
Since the Mitchems’ deaths have made headlines, Mike Mitchem said, almost a dozen people have reached out to tell him they have been vaccinated because they heard Kevin and Misty’s story. Yet he’s also noticed that others online have called the story “fake news.” “Why would the media make up a story this tragic?” he said. “I would give anything for it to not be true, just to have my brother back.” (Mark, 10/21)

AP: 3 Lions At Indianapolis Zoo Test Positive For Delta Variant
Three African lions at the Indianapolis Zoo have tested positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19 and have been taken off exhibit, officials said Thursday. The lions — females Zuri and Sukari, and male Enzi — tested positive on Oct. 14 after the females showed respiratory and digestive symptoms, officials said. (10/21)

NPR: COVID-19 Memes Helped People Cope With The Pandemic, Study Says
Does a meme a day keep the doctor away? Not quite, but it looks like it might help, according to one recent study. Researchers with Pennsylvania State University and the University of California Santa Barbara found that memes helped people cope with life during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published this week in the Psychology of Popular Media journal. Researchers found that those who viewed memes — a type of humor they described as funny or cute pictures that reference pop culture — reported "higher levels of humor" and more positive feelings, according to a news release from the American Psychological Association, which publishes the journal. (Pruitt-Young, 10/21)

The New York Times: W.H.O. Warns Health Care Workers Are Burning Out 
The World Health Organization on Thursday urged countries to do more to protect health care workers, saying that they are increasingly plagued by anxiety, burnout, illness and death on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The agency estimates that 115,500 health care workers around the world died of Covid-19 between January 2020 and May 2021, the middle scenario of its broader estimate of 80,000 to 180,000 deaths during that period. (Gregory, 10/22)

The Boston Globe: New Study Reveals Why Provincetown Did Not Become A COVID Super-Spreader Event 
They came from across Massachusetts and around the country to celebrate the start of summer and the loosening of pandemic restrictions. But, before long, the revelers learned they had unwittingly triggered the first known major outbreak of COVID-19 among a highly vaccinated group of people. Now a new study confirms what researchers had suspected, that the gathering in Provincetown, despite its ideal circumstances for triggering a massive number of infections, did not become a super-spreader event around the country. Moreover, the study is the first to trace how the outbreak started in Provincetown, where more than 1,000 people in Massachusetts were infected. (Lazar, 10/21)

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth To Cover Providers' COVID Vaccine Underpayments
UnitedHealth Group has committed to reprocessing all of its commercial claims related to COVID-19 vaccine administration, after federal investigators confirmed the nation's largest insurer paid "millions" of provider bills 40% less than the Medicare rate for inoculating patients. Officials are relying on UnitedHealth to identify how many bills from March to July need to be repaid, according to a letter from Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.), chair of the special committee on aging, to UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty on Thursday. (Tepper, 10/21)

Modern Healthcare: UNC Hospitals' Patients At Risk For Identity Theft
UNC Hospitals on Wednesday said 719 patients might be at risk for identity theft after an employee misused their personal information. The Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based system said it mailed letters to affected patients after finding out a now former employee was using patients' demographic and financial information to illegally obtain goods and services. UNC Hospitals learned of the misconduct Sept. 10, and its police department has launched a criminal investigation, the system said. (Christ, 10/21)

Stat: Athira Chief Executive Resigns As Company Confirms She Altered Research
The chief executive of biotech Athira Pharma has permanently left the company after papers she published as a graduate student were found to contain altered research. Leen Kawas was suspended in June, after STAT asked the Alzheimer’s research company to comment on the allegations, and Athira announced her resignation as president, chief executive, and member of the board of directors today. (Goldhill, 10/21)

Stat: FDA Warns A Hospital And Two Physicians For Putting Patients At Risk In Trials
In harsh tones, U.S. regulators warned a Minnesota hospital and two of its physicians for violating regulations on human research in studies that tested antipsychotics and the potent anesthetic ketamine on patients in emergency rooms or prior to their arrival. The warnings were issued by the Food and Drug Administration after its inspectors found Hennepin County Medical Center and the physicians failed to obtain consent from subjects for trials that involved testing the safety and effectiveness of the medications for managing agitation. The inspections took place in April 2019 and the FDA letters were sent last May, but only became publicly available this week. (Silverman, 10/21)

Bloomberg: J&J Offered $4 Billion To Settle Talc Claims Before Unit Filed For Bankruptcy
Months before putting one of its units into bankruptcy, Johnson & Johnson offered $4 billion to settle with victims of its talc-based powder -- twice the amount it’s now proposing to pay through a forced resolution, according to people familiar with the matter. The $4 billion offer was aimed at ending more than seven years of litigation over claims its iconic baby powder caused different types of cancers. J&J faces nearly 40,000 suits targeting its talc-based products, and has agreed to about $3.5 billion in settlements so far, according to court filings. (Feeley, 10/21)

AP: CDC: Mishandling Of Flu, Other Vaccines Led To 2018 Outbreak
Federal health officials have concluded that a 2018 outbreak of infections in three states was caused by the improper storage, handling and administration of flu and other common vaccines. The CDC said about 100 patients were affected during workplace vaccination events. The vaccines were administered by a third party provider, “Location Vaccination” in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio over several months from late 2018 to 2019. (10/21)

Stat: Wearable Tech Could Change How We Diagnose Neuromotor Conditions
An unlikely team of engineers and mobility researchers has developed an experimental set of small, wearable sensors intended to make it easier to diagnose infant neuromotor disorders like cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. Neuromotor conditions are most effectively treated when caught early, but diagnosing them can be expensive. (Bender, 10/22)

Houston Chronicle: Scientists Want To See If Humans Can Hibernate Like Squirrels While Traveling In Deep Space
Books and movies have long conveyed the image of people slumbering in transparent pods as they hurtle through space. That future is far away, but a Houston research institute is providing $4 million in grants to bring that vision a little closer. Four teams of researchers will investigate clues to hibernation. One group will look to squirrels; another to prehistoric humans for clues about hibernation. A third team will put volunteers into 20-hour-per-day cold sleeps, and the final group will submerge liver tissues to test the notion of submerging astronauts in a below-freezing liquid to halt all bodily functions. The research could have immediate practical implications on Earth as well as for future space travel. (Leinfelder, 10/21)

The Washington Post: Lyft Releases First Safety Report Finding More Than 4,000 Sexual Assaults Dating Back To 2017 
Lyft collected more than 4,000 reports of sexual assault on its app dating from 2017 through 2019, in its long-promised first safety report showing the extent of the safety problems on it app. The company quietly released its safety report on Thursday — nearly two years after rival Uber released a similar set of data for its app — which tabulated five categories of sexual assault in an effort to make clear the extent of the dangers on the ride-hailing app. It included data for nonconsensual kissing, touching and penetration, as well as attempted sexual penetration and nonconsensual kissing of nonsexual body parts. (Siddiqui, 10/22)

Politico: Texas Asks Supreme Court To Let Its Abortion Ban Stand 
Texas on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to turn away a Biden administration effort to halt enforcement of the state's six-week abortion ban but broached the possibility that justices could also opt to use the matter to more broadly consider decades-old precedents affirming abortion rights. A pair of filings from the state marked the latest salvo over the state's law after the Justice Department this week asked the Supreme Court to take emergency action that would block Texas’ novel abortion ban from being enforced while litigation over its constitutionality goes forward. (Ollstein, 10/21)

The Lily: Antiabortion States Are Drafting ‘Copycat Bills’ That Mirror Texas Law 
Less than 48 hours after Texas’s abortion law went into effect, banning almost all abortions, West Virginia state delegate Josh Holstein was reminded of the promise that got him elected in 2020. Holstein ran as a “100 percent pro-life” Republican alternative to the two-term Democratic incumbent. He would pursue a “heartbeat bill” that would ban abortion once cardiac activity is detected, around six weeks of pregnancy. On Sept. 2, the day after Texas became the first state to successfully implement a six-week ban without court interference, a West Virginia resident called Holstein and other state delegates to task in a private post on his Facebook page. He wanted to know: Can we do the same thing in West Virginia? (Kitchener, 10/19)

Stat: Most Women Had No Issue Getting Abortion Pill From Mail-Order Pharmacies
Amid national furor over abortion access, a new survey found most women were satisfied with obtaining an abortion pill from a mail-order pharmacy, leading the researchers to argue that a regulatory program restricting such access is unnecessary. Specifically, 97% of 227 women surveyed had a complete abortion by using only the medication, which is generally known as mifepristone. Notably, 95% reported being very or somewhat satisfied with receiving the pill by mail and most participants received the medication by mail within three days, according to the survey published in Contraception, a medical journal. (Silverman, 10/21)

Oklahoman: Political Fight Brewing After Oklahoma Issues First Gender Neutral Birth Certificate
Gov. Kevin Stitt and GOP members of the Oklahoma Legislature want to prevent the State Health Department from issuing gender neutral birth certificates after the agency issued this month the state's first nonbinary birth marker. Members of the LGBTQ community rejoiced after an Oregon resident who was born in Oklahoma successfully petitioned the State Health Department to reissue on Oct. 7 their birth certificate with their sex now identified as nonbinary. Nonbinary people do not identify as strictly male or female. (Forman, 10/21)

Detroit Free Press: Hamtramck Distributes Water Filters As Samples Show High Lead
Hundreds of free water filters were handed out Thursday to residents in Hamtramck, where recent water samples show high levels of lead. About 700 filters from the state Department of Health and Human Services were distributed, City Manager Kathleen Angerer said. Not everyone who showed could get a filter because of limited supplies and high demand. On Tuesday, 900 more filters will be distributed at the same location — Hamtramck Town Center parking lot, 9521 Jos. Campau, Hamtramck. (Warikoo, 10/21)

NBC News: California Family Died From Heat And Dehydration On Sierra National Forest Hike, Officials Say
A Northern California family who were found dead in August died from heat and dehydration during their hike in Sierra National Forest, officials said Thursday. Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said at a news conference that investigators considered environmental and other factors before they determined that exposure to the elements killed the family of three. Briese said the cause of death was "hyperthermia and probable dehydration." (Madani and Fitzsimons, 10/21)

AP: Beijing Offering COVID-19 Boosters, 4 Months Before Olympics
China’s capital Beijing has begun offering booster shots against COVID-19, four months before the city and surrounding regions are to host the Winter Olympics. Anyone 18 or older who have received two-dose Chinese vaccines and belong to at-risk groups, including those participating, organizing or working on games facilities, would be eligible for the additional shot, state media reported Friday. (10/22)

NBC News: China-Linked Disinformation Campaign Blames Covid On Maine Lobsters
In mid-September, Marcel Schliebs, a disinformation researcher at the University of Oxford who had been tracking messaging that Chinese diplomats and state media spread on Twitter for 18 months, spotted the emergence of a surprising coronavirus origin theory.  Zha Liyou, the Chinese consul general in Kolkata, India, tweeted an unfounded claim that Covid-19 could have been imported to China from the United States through a batch of Maine lobsters shipped to a seafood market in Wuhan in November 2019. It marks the latest in a series of theories that have been pushed by pro-China accounts since the start of the pandemic. (Solon, Simmons and Perrette, 10/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Herd Immunity Proves Elusive In U.K.
The U.K., in an experiment watched by the world, lifted most Covid-19 restrictions in the summer, wagering that immunity from vaccinations and prior infections would keep the virus at bay. Three months later, the British experience shows that, in the face of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, herd immunity is elusive. Covid-19 cases and deaths have risen in recent weeks as winter has begun to close in. The bottom line: Reliance on immunity, which is imperfect to begin with and wanes over time, doesn’t guarantee a quick victory over Delta. (Roland, 10/21)

Stat: Illumina Will Launch Grail’s Cancer Detection Test In Africa And Asia
Sequencing company Illumina is planning to launch Galleri — the much-hyped cancer detection test from liquid biopsy company Grail, which it acquired in August — in Asian and African countries, according to the company’s CEO, Francis deSouza. It’s a lofty goal with good intentions; deSouza said, speaking this week at the 2021 Milken Institute Global Conference, that the company hopes Illumina’s existing infrastructure will make the introduction of the $950 test far broader and far more rapid. But he declined to provide any other details about what rollouts in Asian and African markets might look like — or when they might start, or even offer more details. (Sheridan, 10/22)

Politico: The Cold Realities Of The Malaria Vaccine 
The first malaria vaccine will likely not reach children at risk of dying from the disease in the next year. Euphoria over having a vaccine that would prevent kids under age 2 from ending up in hospitals with severe symptoms — even if that’s only in 30 percent of cases — is giving way to the cold realities of rolling out shots to scores of mostly poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa. (Paun, 10/21)